The US is essentially pragmatic. It takes what it wants when it wants it, hiding behind a constant foghorn of imperial propaganda - amplified during crises - to justify its petro-militarism.

It's primarily narcissistic - superior, indifferent to suffering, dishonest, but still fundamentally realistic.

Putin's view is mystical, not pragmatic. He's driven by macho fascist mysticism, which is more psychopathic than narcissistic.

He has no problem with either personal or national martyrdom, and sees both as a test of risk and fire. If Russia - and Putin - are as great as he believes, they will prevail. If they are weak, they deserve to die anyway. Suicide by cop is not a problem for him.

Both of these are insane in their different ways, but I have no doubt that the latter is more dangerous.

The real threat to Putin is any form of democratic liberalism. He sees that as enfeebling, and he can't afford to tolerate it on his border - not when there's significant cultural and personal traffic across that border.

So this is not really about military capability or even about resources. It's about machismo and a threat to Putin's view of himself as the alpha in that part of the world.

It's clear from Dugin's template that Ukraine was always going to be invaded no matter what NATO did or didn't do.

It's possible that if Putin is terminally ill he might not have gotten around to it. But it's not at all credible that he would never have considered it. Or - given his record of other atrocities - made concrete plans for it.